Trophies for the best newspapers

5 Apr 2006

The Frewin, McCall and Joel Mervis newspaper competitions were announced at the fifth annual Mondi Shanduka Newspaper Awards Ceremony held at the Sandton Sun last night, April 5, 2006, recognising newspaper excellence in all areas of disciplines, from advertising to print and production; to layout and typography; and the balance between the use of pictures and graphics.

The criteria for the newspaper industry's most prestigious publishing awards, organised by the Newspaper Association of South Africa, have been set by the industry to encourage and recognise publishers who excel in producing quality products.

The judging panel consisted of Clive Loxton, AAA School of Advertising; Kerry Swift, media consultant and lecturer at Rhodes University; Logan Naidu, lecturer at the Cross Media Training Centre; and Prof Govin Reddy, convenor judge.

The winners in their respective categories are:

FREWIN AWARD - this award, in its 57th year, recognises all urban daily newspapers with a circulation above 50 000:

The winner is: Die Burger

The judges commented that, "Die Burger was overall an attractive presentation with classifieds well laid-out with good readability. It has a very good conservative style in terms of layout and typography that is adhered to with impressive consistency. A lot of effort is put in producing this paper".

The runners-up in this category are:
2nd: Beeld
3rd: Daily Sun
4th: Cape Times

MCCALL AWARD - this award, in its 45th year, recognises urban daily newspapers with a circulation of 50 000 or less:

The winner for the third consecutive time is: The Witness

Judges comments: "The Witness' advertising pages are laid out superbly in terms of layout and presentation. It has a modern and fresh look which is easy on the eye. A well designed colourful panel of information under the main logo is the best of its kind. Excellent print quality is maintained throughout the newspaper and good repro work displayed throughout the newspaper. Pictures and graphics are well-ordered and visually well-managed."

Runners-up are:
2nd: Die Volksblad
3rd: Pretoria News
4th: The Mercury

The JOEL MERVIS AWARD - this award, in its 11th year, recognises urban weekly newspapers irrespective of their circulation:

The winner is: Mail & Guardian

Commented the judges: "The Mail & Guardian's advertising is generally very good in terms of its positioning and layout. It is a sophisticated and elegant newspaper. The front pages are exciting executions of a particularly good underlying layout grid. It was an excellent paper to read with good quality control throughout the newspaper. The visual impact is also maintained from issue to issue suggesting high editorial standards being maintained week in and week out."

Runners-up are:
2nd: Weekend Witness
3rd: Rapport
4th Place: Naweek Beeld